User Reviews

Reviews by rwmiscik:

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4.5/5 rDev +5.4%

Straight pour from a 22oz pry-off bottle to an oversized wineglass (JK stemware). The only packagining information on the bottle appears to be “2014” printed above the name, “LE TERROIR – DRY HOPPED SOUR ALE.” From what I can tell, this dropped within the last month, so it should be fresh.

Appearance (4.25): The head comes up to about two fingers of bone-white foam, capping a rich, orange-golden body that’s clear, minus a light chill haze. It sticks around longer than most sour beers, leaving a light film on the surface and some broken chunks of a thin, loopy collar. As the beer recedes, it leaves very little—just a few patches of light, lacy foam.

Smell (4.0): Man, this smells lovely. Tart fruit juices (red grapefruit, green apple) mixed with sweet tropical notes (some ripe pineapple, papaya, honeydew, and a little cashew fruit), some dank, funky hops, and just a light undercurrent of sugar cookie bready sweetness. The sour beer at its heart could be a little more complex, but that funky, fruity character that smells like cashew fruit and underripe honeydew together adds a really nice layer of hoppy weirdness.

Taste (4.75): Holy nuts, this is fucking tasty! Tart grapefruit flesh and underripe kiwi, married to a underplayed but still rich, sweet base of cantaloupe and overripe mango burst onto the palate, followed by a clean, crisp sourness that’s extremely balanced—lightly acetic, with a clean (not funky, not yogurty) lactic tang, and brightly citrusy. Just a tiny bit of water crackers and floury, peasant white bread offer some semblance of a malt body, but really this beer has been fermented out so cleanly it’s almost non-existant. Some pithy, slightly resinous and definitely kinda dank, herbal hops add a fruity, lightly vegetal, funky dimension to everything else going on in this beer, and vinous, somewhat tannic and minerally white wine tones boost the dryness of the malt body, also aided by those zesty hops. No booze. Just pure awesome.

Mouthfeel (4.5): Smooth, lightly tingly carbonation ushers in a perfectly medium-weight body, which feels just a little oily before drying out to a pithy, slightly parching finish. The carbonation foams up softly with a fine tingle before it washes out at the end—this is just absurdly drinkable.

Overall (4.5): This is, without a doubt, at least as good if not better than the sum of its parts. And yes, I know it’s pasteurized and the heyday of all New Belgium sours is supposed to be prior to the era of pasteurization, but goddamn this is delicious. Absurdly good, like, why-isn’t-this-always-available delicious. The base sour is extremely solid, which I feel confident in saying after having had an old bottle (post-pasteurization) a couple of years ago after the hops had died off, and that was plenty tasty on its own. But this is in a zone of its own right now, while the hops are still kickin’. Definitely pick this beer up.

I couldn't decide for a long time if I loved or hated this beer. It's just so different than anything I've had before... actually, no, it's really similar to two very dissimilar things I've had before (IPAs and sours). Some swigs feature an explosion of hops, while others are straight-up sour, and most are some crazy commingling of the two. Once I wrapped my brain around the dichotomy, I decided I loved it. The fruity notes in the hops provide a great layer on top of the fruity sour of the base beer. Will be seeking out more of this.

Brew is a light yellowish-orange, slightly peach-colored, topped with a light cream head, small size with reasonable retention for the style.

Wow, I know this beer is dry-hopped, but I was not expecting this aroma! Grapefruit, mango, and starfruit, accompanied by a sweet, sugary caramel. There's a hint of yeast lurking in the background, but the dry hop overwhelms everything else.

Flavor does not follow the aroma; this is a wild ale, tart and sour, through and through. The dry hop comes through as a very fruity presence of grapefruit and mango, slightly dank (from the Amarillo). White grapes and white wine-flavored tartness bounce off the hoppy fruitiness, while oak and a rustic, musty yeast presence develop on the mid-palate and back-end.

Very tart and puckering, but nicely balanced with a fruity sweetness. Definitely a sipper, slightly oily. Relatively short finish except for a lasting astringency.

This is one of the most interesting beers I have ever had. It has a fruity profile from the hops that is quite different from a traditional sour or lambic, and which blends with the tart, puckering sourness in a unique fashion. I'm very glad I got to try it.

Hot damn, this is a fine beer. Gotta say, I'm not sure if I've had a dry hopped sour before, but if this is the outcome, let's get this ball rollin, brewers! Huge tropical notes on the nose + a health dose of apricot. Seriously, whoever crafted this brew is an artisan, because the Amarillo/Cascade combo marries so harmoniously with the base sour and its aroma...this is great stuff. Palate is similarly delightful, ample sourness but never veering into vinegary acid fest territory. That tropical fruit and tart apricot kinda overshadows any barrel presence, but I sort of sense it being there in a really minor, supporting way. Overall, an absoluet home run from NB, who continues to show that their sours are not to be trifled with -- in fact, I dare say they're one of the better sour producers in America.

I picked up a bottle of New Belgium's Le Terroir a few weeks ago for $14.99 at The Lager Mill. I've very interested in trying this beer and I've heard more than a few good things about it, so lets see how it goes. 2014 Vintage. Poured from a brown 22oz bottle into a snifter.

A- The label looks good, it's got a nice design to it that goes well with the name and I think it's a little eye catching. It poured a slightly clear golden amber color that took on more of a amber color when held to the light with a little over two fingers worth of bubbly slightly off white head that died down to a thin ring that stayed till the end and it left some patchy and spotty lacing behind. This is a good looking beer, I have no complaints.

S- The aroma starts off with a slightly higher amount of medium sweetness followed by a fruit aroma being the first to show up with come citrus and tropical fruit aromas, but to me it's the apricot that shows up the most and it goes straight to a sour cherry aroma with the sour aroma starting to take over and it develops more of a sweet tart candy aroma to it. Up next i get some of the hops which I think were where some of the fruity aromas came from and there's also a light floral and light spicy hop aroma showing up in the background. This beer had a very good aroma, the hops seemed to add just enough complexity to it.

T- The taste seems to be very similar to the aroma and it starts off with a medium amount of sweetness with the hops being the first to show up and they impart the same aspects that they did in the aroma with some floral and spicy hops showing up a little and it leads right into the sourness which is on the high side and it has a slight vinegar aspect to it, but it still retains all the sweet tart candy aspects that it had in the aroma. Up next comes the fruits with the apricot showing up just for a second and it goes right into the sour cherrys which are really nice and more sour than cherry. On the finish the sourness lingers into the aftertaste along with some fruity and lightly hoppy flavors. This was a great tasting beer, the hops added just enough complexity to it.

M- Fairly smooth, a little acidic, a little crisp, not too dry, on the lighter side of being medium bodied with a medium amount of carbonation. This beer had a good mouthfeel that worked well with it.

Overall I thought this was a very good beer and I thought it was a very nice example of the style, I have had hardly any dry hopped sours, but to me this is what they should be all about, it's a sour beer first and once the sourness starts to fade just enough hops show up to remind that there is indeed some hops and this beer and I think it adds complexity to a style that can sometimes be to dominated by just sour and not much else. This beer had nice drinkability, it was fairly smooth, a little acidic, a little crisp, not too dry, not filling at all and the taste did a good job of holding my attention, I think one glass is the perfect amount for me, I might be able to drink the whole bottle, but there's a good chance that the acidic aspect would start to wear on me. What I liked the most about this beer was how well the hoppy aspects worked with this beer, it's got some nice hop flavors and some really nice hop aromas with out adding bitterness which I think would really clash with the sour. What I liked the least about this beer was how acidic it was, I know that comes with the territory when it comes to sours, but if it was toned down just a little I think it would help the drinkability. I would for sure buy this beer again and I wouldn't mind seeing how it ages, but I'm not sure it would get any better since it's dry hopped. I would recommend this to any sour fans, it's for sure worth a try. All in all I was happy with this beer and I was little impressed with how well the hops worked with the sour, they used the hops in such a way were it accents the fruity sour flavors and it's far from dominating. So far this in now one of my favorite beers from New Belgium and in the lips of faith series, it's one of the better sours I've had and it's now the best dry hopped sour I've had. Great job guys this is one tasty beer and I really enjoyed drinking it, keep up all that hard work.

S: 4.25 The aromas are just wonderful. Lots of bright, juicy, citrus balanced by slight funk and minerals. The hops are quite strong, but they offer more orange and grapefruit with a touch of pine, all of which compliment the funk and sour elements rather than dominating.

T: 4 Flavors match the aromas quite well. Big juicy citrus hits first followed by a rather high level of tartness. Very light bitterness follows with the mineral flavor that was on the nose. More orange lingers on the finish.

M: 4.25 Light and refreshing with an excellent, dry finish. A bit undercarbonated for my tastes.

O: 4.25 An excellent example of a dry-hopped sour. Neither the hops nor the sour flavors are too aggressive. All very balanced and refreshing with enough going on that keeps you interested.

I've been lucky enough to sample this on a couple of occasions, the best being at FOBAB where I passed on drinking copious amounts of lesser beers like BA Darkness to consume about 3 pints of the wonderful Terroir. I usually don't review beers I drink on such occasions but this beer is so stellar as to mandate a review.

Appearance is a gorgeous hazed peach body under a thin white froth that reduces to lacing rapidly. Carbonation is moderate.

Aroma is a complicated citrus/cider vinegar with edges of green apple and grape skin. Hops dance lightly on the nose in the aroma's finish.

Taste: Like a trip to the fruit aisle of Vom Fass, this beer brings on a menagerie citric and apple vinegar flavors along with mild mustiness, wood, and grape skin.

Mouthfeel: Flawlessly sour with intense feel on the palate that does not translate into acid reflux in the esophagus or stomach. At times tart as well with impressive dryness and carbonation that does well to cut the acidity.

Drinkability: Exceptional. I have a high tolerance for acidic beverages and that certainly helps but I feel that Le Terroir is not particularly harsh despite its boldness. For me it makes for a refreshing and exciting imbibing experience.

Golden peach pour with a half inch of bubbly white head on top of the brew. Nice clarity...first sniff is tart and oaky with a mix of fruit notes jumping out. Peach/mango/citrus with some Amarillo hops still kicking in there, but they seem to have faded compared to when I have had this on draft in the past.

First sip is a mouth puckering fruit salad. Tons of citrus, peach and tropical flavors mingle with oak and some semi-sweet malts. Amarillo hops are still kicking but not as bright as I recall. Flows down with an acidic sour bite that lingers on. Well played.

Mouthfeel is medium bodied with good steady carbonation. This one packs quite the sour punch but it is still quite drinkable. I think I would've liked it a bit more fresh...don't hang onto this one, drink it now if you have any left as the hops always have made this for me. A great brew overall.

Brown yet translucent, it looks good and refreshing. A relative fizz (unforgiving pour) settles to a yummy, succulent looking head that laces my glass like legs on a wine. It looks becoming...like a winner.

Smells sour. The smell is pretty pungent to me--so reminiscent of a Flanders I consider backing up off of it and sitting my cup down. The smell is more of a warning than an invitation.

The taste is more subtle than smell. I can't say I identify dry-hopping, but it's mouth-puckering appealing. It's refreshing in the same way as other appealing sours--it cleanses the palate beautifully. It certainly makes you take notice! It feels just sour enough, without a menacing kind of face you might expect from a relative sour rook. Compared to the sour way it tastes and smells, the feel is negligible.

The drink is incredibly interesting. I'm glad I bought it, and glad to have another one. As I suspect is normal for the style, I wouldn't wanna drink a whole bomber alone, much less take two! Great beer to share, certainly, and a good experience!